The Family of God

Brothers and Sisters

I love watching those nostalgia videos on Youtube, showing videos of life in the 90s.

I remember the toys, the food, the TV shows, and awful clothing and hair styles.

But seeing those images remind me also of my family, those that are gone and those that are still here.

I remember Sunday suppers at my granny’s house, Saturday trips to Fayette Mall in Lexington, and our summer vacations to Pigeon Forge or Orlando.

And most of the memories revolve around my family.

We are shaped by our families aren’t we?

We learned how to share (or how not to share!), how to say 'I'm sorry,' how to love people even when they're driving you crazy, and how to sit down at a table and not act like a hooligan.

Our families, for better or worse, are the training ground for relationships. They teach us what belonging looks like.

But, according to scripture, we aren’t to be shaped only by our natural families, but, perhaps more importantly, we are to be shaped by our spiritual families...the Church.

The connection between our natural families and the Church are plentiful in the Bible.

God is referred to as our Father, Jesus as our brother, and other Christians as our brothers and sisters in the Lord throughout.

In John 1:12-13 John says those who receive and believe in Jesus become children of God.

Paul says God adopts us as His children in Romans 8.

And John celebrates God’s love for us in calling us His Children in 1 John 3.

This morning, we’re going to go back to Ephesians chapter 2, where the Apostle Paul shows us God's incredible blueprint for His family—the "household of God."

And we're going to see that this new spiritual family doesn’t replace our earthly family; it gives it a deeper purpose and a greater mission.

Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word

Ephesians 2:11–22 CSB

11 So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands. 12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:11–22 CSB

14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. 17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Ephesians 2:11–22 CSB

19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

What does it mean that we are the family of God?

Being the Family of God means:

1) We share a COMMON BIRTH.

The “therefore” in verse 11 is pointing back to the first 10 verses of the chapter.

Remember, Paul started the chapter off with past-tense statements about who the readers “were” before the met Jesus.

He then reminds of the amazing realities that are true of them now that Jesus has “made the alive in Christ.”

Paul is writing to Gentile believers (meaning non-Jewish converts to Christianity), which slightly changes the application of the Gospel to their lives compared to the lives of Jewish converts.

Don’t get tripped up on the circumcision talk, that was the way Jews referred to non-Jews (Gentiles).

But in verse 12, he reminds them of 4 realities that were true of them before Jesus saved them:

They were WITHOUT CHRIST- as non-Jews, they had no expectation of or hope in a Messiah to come and save them and set them free.

They were EXCLUDED from CITIZENSHIP- they had no rights to belong to and were welcome into the Kingdom of God. They were forever outsiders.

They were FOREIGNERS to the COVENANTS- They were not entitled to the benefits of the promises God made to His people in the OT.

They were outsiders and rejects, so...

They were WITHOUT HOPE and WITHOUT GOD- Not that He had abandoned them, but they didn’t know Him, didn’t believe in Him, and so they didn’t have the hope only found in Him.

Much like in the first part of the chapter, the bad news is follow by a two word sermon “But now...”

“You who were far away (separated, excluded, left out, and hopeless), have been BROUGHT NEAR.”

I want to camp here for a moment.

The word combination “have been brought near” is significant.

The phrase “have been brought” is the Greek word “ginomai” which means “to assume a certain state” or “to become” or “to be born”

The word near is “eng-yis” which means “close in relationship”

Put together, Paul is sayin: those who were once FAR away have been born to a close relationship by the blood of Jesus.

Galatians 4:4 uses the same word twice about Jesus being “born” of a woman and “born” under the law.

Galatians 4:4 CSB

4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

This is radical and amazing news.

Those who were once aliens, outsiders, spiritual orphans, and even enemies of God, have been made full-fledged children of God.

In Romans 8, Paul says we were “adopted” as Children of God.

This isn’t just a legal status, but a change in relationship, access, privilege, and confidence.

This is what we symbolize and celebrate in Baptism.

Being “born” into the family of God.

Remember what Jesus tells Nicodemus John 3

John 3:3 CSB

3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:5 CSB

5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Baptism symbolizes our new birth into God’s family.

It isn’t the actual birth, meaning the act of baptism does saves us, but it outwardly displays what has happened to us spiritually.

This is the reason baptism is a prerequisite for membership.

It is the image Jesus gave us in His own baptism at the beginning of His ministry and in His commission before He ascended.

It is our formal recognition of your new birth in Christ.

It identifies us God’s people (the Church) as we announce our new birth publicly.

We who were far away, have been brought near, welcomed as sons and daughters into God’s beloved family.

2) We share a PLACE at the TABLE.

Paul then turns his attention to how Jesus influences the relationship between the two groups that make up the early church, the Jews and Gentiles.

There was a separation between the Jews and the Gentiles before Jesus, a “dividing wall of hostility” that the Law created, since part of it is required Jews to separate themselves from those outside of God’s covenant.

So in Jesus, God created a “new man from the two” in order to make “peace” possible.

Through the cross, Jesus destroyed the dividing wall and brought the two groups together.

He “came” to both groups and “proclaimed” to both groups the good new of peace.

That might not sound much like it matters to us today since pretty much everyone we know is a gentile and likely doesn’t have too much against Jewish people.

But Paul’s message isn’t exclusive to Jews and Gentiles, what Jesus accomplished in His life, death, and resurrection is the creation of a new people, a new family that is made up of all kind of different people, with all kinds of different backgrounds, cultures, personalities, gifts, and experiences.

Brought together as “members of God’s household”, another word for “family.”

There is a place at the table for anyone who would come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

And this is the reason we regularly celebrate the Lord’s Supper together.

In 1 Corinthians 11, the passage we read whenever we take the Lord’s Supper, the importance of unity, forgiveness, selflessness, and repentance are highlighted as the focus of the Lord’s Supper.

Don’t come to the table with bitterness, seeking your own wants or needs, or, verse 27 you “will be guilty of sin against the body.” aka the church.

When we take Lord’s supper together, we are celebrating our

unity in our diversity

love and mercy in the middle of conflict

care for one another in our struggles

celebration together in victory

And all the other 53 one another statements that make up how we are to live as the family of God in this world.

We share a place as the table as the family of God.

3) We share a HEAVENLY PURPOSE.

Paul transitions from calling us "members of the household of God" to describing how we are "being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." We are not just family members; we are living stones in a spiritual house.

A family doesn't just share a name and meals; they share a home.

And that home requires everyone to participate in its construction and upkeep.

Paul shows us that our family's great project is to build a place for God's presence to dwell.

Jesus is the Cornerstone (v. 20): Our entire structure is aligned with Him. He holds everything together.

The words "joined together" and "built together" are crucial.

A single stone isn't a temple; it's just a rock. Its purpose is only found when it's connected to other stones.

Illustration using bricks:

One brick by itself is just a paper weight, but when they begin to come together, it becomes something different.

Our Purpose is Heavenly: We are building more than a club or a community service organization; we are building a place for the Spirit of God to dwell and be made known to the world.

Before Christ, we were "without God in the world." Now, we are the very place God has chosen to live!

This gives everything we do as the church heavenly purpose

Our gatherings, our relationships, and our service has heavenly weight and meaning.

We're not just meeting together; we are living out our identity as God’s family.

Becoming a member of the church is embracing your role in God's purpose.

It's moving from being a spectator to a participant.

It's formally declaring, "I want to be a part of what God is doing in this specific place, with these specific people, for His glory."

So let me ask you: Have you found your place? If you are a follower of Jesus, you are already a member of His universal family.

The question is, are you living that out in a committed relationship with a local body of believers?

If not, why not? God hasn't saved you to be alone. He saved you into a family. Come home.